Chapter 3
Mission, Planning, and Governance

 

Student Services and Enrollment Management

Student Services & Enrollment Management, with 104 employees, provides both academic and extracurricular support services for students. It also has responsibility for graduate and undergraduate admissions, including policies and practices, as well as for implementing Board decisions regarding “right sizing,” etc. “Creating and sustaining a culture and environment that fosters and supports the personal and intellectual growth of the campus community” is the responsibility of many of the departments within this unit, from Residential Life to Athletics.

As noted in Chapter 1, there have been two reorganizations of the Division of Student Affairs since the last accreditation visit. The first reorganization occurred during the 1994-1995 academic year when the Division of Student Services & Enrollment Management was created. The second reorganization occurred at the conclusion of the 2002-2003 academic year, when the Division of Student Affairs was merged with the Division of Student Services & Enrollment Management under the leadership of one Vice President. The new divisional structure is intended to increase efficiency and effectiveness to better address enrollment increases, retention, and higher academic qualifications of accepted applicants.

Four Assistant Vice President positions were created in this division in the 2003 reorganization, with each office assumed by a current director:

All four Assistant Vice Presidents report directly to the Vice President for Student Services and Enrollment Management. In addition, the following also report directly to this Vice President:

This division coordinates with other divisions on campus and with the Office of the President to meet university goals and objectives. Goals for the division are derived from Next Steps 2000-2005. With this plan as the foundation, the division determines how each office will meet its individual objectives and assist the division in meeting its broader goals.

This division has particular responsibility for ways in which the goals for a revised institutional mission are being achieved. Although much of the responsibility lies with the Academic Affairs division through Academic Improvement and the development of Qualitatively Distinctive programs, the movement to become an institution of choice while remaining an institution of opportunity has implications for this unit through admissions standards, recruitment policies, and scholarship availability, and the range of student services, including an enhanced residential life. This unit also has responsibility for the athletic program. The recent success of SVSU in Division II football also has implications for addressing these new goals.

Another key institutional goal is enrollment management and “right-sizing” the institution. Even as recruitment efforts are intensifying in some respects, in others there is a recognition that the university will reach a sustainable level of enrollment for the region. To move beyond that level would have implications for capital as well as program expansion. While communication between Academic Affairs and Student Services & Enrollment Management is essential for developing and coordinating successful programs, close communication must be maintained with Administration & Business Affairs to address growth issues.

The work of the various units in this division is reflected in the transformation of campus culture, with a growing residential population and the increased diversity of the student body. (See Chapter 6 for a fuller discussion of Campus Culture.)